The Fall of Our Fathers
by Cyber Emblem
Summary: A collection of prequel stories to my other story, Crusaders Reborn. Taking place in Jugdral, and written in a much darker fashion, and thus more deserving of the T rating. The first tale is about the battle of Belhalla. Warning: contains major character deaths.
1. The Massacred of Belhalla

_Here is my first one shot in this collection. My rendition of the events at Belhalla. This is a prequel story to my other FE 4 story, Crusaders Reborn, albeit written very differently. I am using this opportunity to experiment, and thus, I wrote this in a much darker fashion than my other story. Don't expect to see my trademark sense of humor in this, or any other story I put under this collective title. While I may use a little bit of humor, this was written with a serious tone in mind, and I'm afraid some of my readers may find the events described to be a bit disturbing. I believe that this story DEFINITELY deserves a T rating, while Crusaders has it just as a precaution. You've been warned._

 _I will return to Crusaders Reborn for my next posting, and will alert readers of this story's existence there as well. Though let it be known that I have a case of writer's block when it comes to this next arc. Partly because of Thracia 776, and partly because I had forgotten that you only have to conquer two castles in Chapter 8, and a plot point that I've had planned all along sort of depended on their being three. I can work around it, though I'm afraid that it will leave the third arc a bit sloppy. It might not be, and it could be perfectly well written, I'm just telling you guys that you should expect to see some delays in chapter releases due to writer's block. I'm not panicking or seriously considering quitting, because I know that things will go smoother once I get past the upcoming arc. Though I know it will take more than words to prove. Oh well, Just read and enjoy… if you can (maniacal laugh)._

* * *

 _"_ _ **Arvis you dastard!** " such ridiculous last words, especially coming from him, Sigurd of Chalphy, a man so noble and so loved by those he met. However, his poor choice in last words could hardly be held against him. He had come to Belhalla thinking that he had won, that everything would finally have a satisfying, if bittersweet, end. Then Arvis declared that Sigurd and his men were still considered traitors and were to be put to death. Then he called out his wife. HIS wife. There was no doubt that it was Deidre but… when Sigurd looked into those beautiful eyes that had once adored him, he could only see confusion and a lack of recognition. They had had a son together for God's sake! How could she not recognize him? Even worse, she had an slightly swollen belly. Sigurd and Deidre had not seen each other in over a year! So his sudden loss of the ability to use current and more fitting terms could be forgiven. Though for years to come the rulers of the empire would use it as a joke about failed ambition, the ridiculousness of the phrase was the last thing on Sigurd's mind as Arvis brought the full power of Valaflame down upon him. All Sigurd could do was shed silent tears which immediately evaporated as his body was disintegrated from the head down in a span of five seconds._

* * *

 _As soon as the first meteors struck, Dew knew that he had to be fast, and he had to put his backup plan into action. Something in his gut had told him that something would go horribly wrong, he wasn't the only one who felt it, yet he still insisted on feigning ignorance over the reasons for everyone's behavior. Yet at the same time, he had prepared for the worst. Return Rings, interesting items those. If activated, they could send you away from danger and back to the last place the ring was connected to. The location could be changed, but it wasn't cost effective to do it at every location visited, so most would connect it to their base of operations before a campaign. Dew had made sure to "acquire" several of these before they set out to face the might of the Grandbell army, so that if things went horribly wrong, he'd have a way to get his comrades and himself away from the danger. Of course, he'd have to survive to do that, but after intense training with his wife, he felt that he could stand up for himself if necessary. Plus he trusted his dodging abilities, something that had come in handy whether as a thief or as a soldier. In the past, he would have abandoned the others to save his own skin, but now he was 16, married to a woman of Amazonian qualities, and had twins to look after. He actually gave a damn about others now, so he was scouring the battlefield for his companions._

 _He quickly came across Sylvia and Claude. Claude was on the ground bleeding profusely and had a nasty looking head wound. A Swordfighter was stalking them and approaching slowly, and Sylvia had her Defense sword at the ready to protect her new husband, but the man thought nothing of it. Knowing that Sylvia likely didn't stand a chance, Dew used his Wind Sword to knock the blade out of the man's hand. Then Dew rushed forward and decapitated him. "Are you alright Sylvia?" he asked._

 _"_ _She nodded "Yes, I'm alright, but Claude! and the others!" she said, terror plain to hear in her voice._

 _"_ _You'd better get him out of here." Dew said, pulling a couple of Return rings out of his bag. "These will teleport you back to Zaxon. You should be able to get medical aid there. You should see some of the others soon, I'm going to hand out as many of these as I can. I wish you luck, and please, wish it for me."_

 _"_ _No luck, the god's will." said Claude, half deliriously. Sylvia nodded and slipped the ring on his finger, and then hers, and they disappeared._

 _After this, Dew was remarkably successful in saving his comrades. Mostly because he didn't directly involve himself in any of the various skirmishes happening across the battlefield, and although there were many soldiers dying, Dew's friends were the elite. They were not going to go down easily. He found Adean and Midir next, and after showing them the Return rings, she used her last use of her warp staff to save her husband and save his ring for another, and then took a ring for herself and escaped. Though as this happened, Dew wondered why Adean had chosen to stay yet Raquesis had left. He then found Holyn, Jamke, and Briggid, all fighting back to back, and after assisting them, ensured their escape. He then found Azel and Lex in a similar situation. Having sent Tailto back to Zaxon after they took Phinora, and not wanting to devastate her in her already emotional state, Azel quickly accepted the ring and made his escape, but Lex wasn't so ready to leave._

 _"_ _You'd have me abandon the others? I don't know what goes on in that head of yours or why you think that I'll turn coward and run. That is how you do things, not me. I won't ditch my comrades." he shouted at Dew_

 _"_ _Azel just left without any hesitation or arguments, Lex! Are you calling your best friend a coward for doing that?" Dew shouted_

 _"_ _He had a perfectly good reason to leave like that. I don't think any less of him whatsoever for it. He had every reason to leave now."_

 _"_ _So do you! I'm getting everyone out of here as quickly and safely as possible, direct battle won't help much at this point Lex! Everyone else will be glad just to see that your'e still breathing! Admit it, you really just want to look good in front of MY WIFE!"_

 _"_ _AYRA SHOULDN'T EVEN BE YOUR-" their argument was interrupted by nearby explosion, and by nearby, I mean close enough to knock them off their feat, but not close enough to be lethal._

 _"_ _Fine! Get yourself killed for all I care. Iv'e got to save my wife and the rest of our friends!" Dew shouted, and he began to sprint. As he moved closer to the castle, he stopped short in horror at what he saw._

* * *

 _Noish had been thrown off of his horse when the the first volley of meteors had been thrown. As he recovered and watched in horrified fascination as his master died, Noish decided that all that he had left to do is gather his fellow knights of Chalphy and avenge their master as best as they could. He'd lost his horse, but wan't otherwise unharmed, so he started rushing through the battlefield. "Alec? Arden?" he called out, running through the battlefield. He found them together. Arden laying on the ground, and Alec standing beside him, clutching a wound in his side. "Alec, I'm glad to see you survived the first onslaught, Arden, you have to get up buddy we-" Noish stopped short and drew back in horror when he saw the state his friend was in. He was staring directly at Arden's chest. He could clearly see the ground._

 _"_ _We're all that's left buddy. A couple of horseless cavaliers of Chalphy. It's the end, and to think, I never got to know any of the ladies, or get Sylvia to show me that special dance of her's!" Alec bemoaned._

 _"_ _Don't talk like that Alec, we can still give the enemy hell and avenge our master in the process. Let's find the others, we'll regroup and then-" He was interrupted by another volley that sent him flying through the air. "Alec? Alec where are you" he called as his vision cleared, with the first thing he could make out being the remains of Alec's turban fluttering to the ground, and then he saw the ghastly mess caused by a direct hit from a meteor spell. "No…"_

 _Then he heard a cackling voice from behind him. "Thus is the fate that shall befall all that interfere with the dark lord's return."_

 _Noish turned to the voice. "You… You're a member of the dark sect!"_

 _"_ _Yes. Not just any member, however. I am Archbishop Manfroy, and I am here to ensure that some… particular pests perish on this day." he said with a malevolent grin._

 _"_ _You shall perish for what you have done here this day!" Noish cried as he charged forward._

 _"_ _That's an unlikely event, especially at the hands of a mere knight such as yourself." Manfroy said as a dark tendril appeared, grabbed Noish's sword arm, and slammed him to the ground. "You are of no consequence, and are of no threat, yet…" the tendril then wrapped around Noish's throat and pulled him upright, so he was in a kneeling position as he tried to get air "I might as well eliminate you, considering I'm here and all." Manfroy then grabbed Noish's face, and channeled his dark magic directly into Noish's head, making it decay and collapse in on itself, until what remained imploded. Manfroy let the not so fresh corpse fall to the ground, then he turned to the sound of hoofbeats._

 _Beowolf had seen his comrades in arms in distress and rushed towards them, but alas, he had arrived just in time to see Noish die. He tried to spin his horse about, but dark tendrils lashed out, impaled the horse, grabbed Beowolf by the waist, and threw him roughly to the ground, arms forward. "Any last words?" Manfroy asked him._

 _"_ _Finn you lucky bastard, you'd better take damn good care of Raquesis and Delmund."_

 _"_ _As good a last phrase as any. Certainly better than your leader's." Manfroy said as he made the tendrils lash out again. They entered Beowolf's right thigh and came out of his left shoulder, then they curved around and went down his throat and out the small of his back, then into the back of his neck and then out of the top of his head. Then Manfroy made a pulling motion and that was the gruesome end of Beowolf._

 _Then Manfroy grinned again when he heard the sound of howling wind behind him. "This wonderful day just doesn't want to end, does it?" he said as he whirled around to face Lewyn. The tendrils shot out, but were blown back by the might of the Forsetti tome. Manfroy grunted a little at this, but was otherwise unharmed. "The mighty king of Silesse, just the pest that I was looking to exterminate." he said as he used the Jormung spell. Lewyn dodged this, but was unable to avoid the Hell spell that followed. Lewyn cried out in pain and then began to vomit black fluids, shaking heavily._

 _"_ _And so it ends for you." said Manfroy, preparing the finishing blow he was interrupted, however, by Lewyn's wife. Ferry kept trying to strike Manfroy with her slim lance, but he dodged all of her blows. She sent her mount upwards and Lewyn tried using Forsetti again, this time, hitting Manfroy with some debris, knocking him back, but not knocking him out. Ferry used the opening to get her husband onto her mount. As soon as she had secured him, Manfroy lashed out with the tendrils again. They were stopped by Ayra's silver sword._

 _"_ _Get him out of here!" she called to Ferry, who quickly mounted and shot into the sky._

 _"_ _Ah, the Isaacian wench that started this all. I'm glad your'e here, you've served your purpose, so now I think that it's high time that you died."_

 _"_ _I guess it's fair for you to attempt to mess with my head now. After all, I'm going to mess up yours!" she responded, and launched into a flurry of blows, all of which Manfroy countered with a tendril or a dodge. Suddenly, he grabbed her upper right arm. She cried out as she felt a terrible burning sensation course through her body._

 _"_ _Are you sure you want to pay the price for opposing Loptyr? It's more than an arm and a leg." He said, as he tore the arm out of the socket and struck her with it. "But I suppose that they will do for now." he said as a tendril grabbed her by the legs, flipped her over and suspended her seven feet in the air._

 _Fortunately, anything further was prevented by a hand axe going through the tendril and Manfroy getting a blast of wind magic in the face, momentarily blinding him. Ayra dropped straight on top of her husband."Dew, I-"_

 _"_ _Don't speak, just get medical attention and wait for me." he said, slipping a Return ring onto the index finger of her remaining hand and activating it._

 _"_ _I'm afraid that you'll be the one that will be waiting for her… IN HELL!" Manfroy shouted, shooting tendrils at Dew and Lex. While Lex cut them down, Dew bobbed and weaved and slashed around them. After about twenty seconds of this, one of them split open his bag as he was leaping, causing the remaining Return rings to spill out onto the ground. "Planning to save all the rest of your friends, are you?" Manfroy asked, casting a spell that made them all melt. "Not going to happen." he said._

 _While Dew was distracted by the loss, one of the tendrils grabbed him and pulled him to Manfroy. Preparing to kill him in the same fashion as Noish, Manfroy asked "Any last words?" and Dew said "Always be prepared." and then he was gone. He'd been wearing a Return ring all this time, he just hadn't activated it. Manfroy decided to turn his attention towards Lex… who had realized that he wasn't a match for the archbishop and had escaped at the same time as Dew._

 _Normally, Manfroy would have shouted in rage over his victims escaping, but not this time. He took it with a cool indifference. He knew that he had already won, and that he'd have all the time in the world to hunt them down. Neither they nor their children would be safe from the new age of Loptyr that was fast approaching._


	2. The Father's Dancing Wife

_Hello, this is Cyber Emblem with another sort of one shot. While I was away on vacation, I had the inspiration for this one. I will upload a new chapter of C.R. shortly, but I wrote this one first. I have had the idea for other "one shots" for a while, but I chose to do this one, as I felt the others have some important spoilers for future events, while this one… not so much. Any spoilers in this chapter are the kind I'm willing to divulge to anyone willing to read this. So, if the name of the chapter doesn't give it away, this chapter is centered around Claude and Sylvia. Please enjoy and Review!_

* * *

Dancing had been all she knew. Raised by an abusive man that she knew was not her father, it had been what cheered her up. As he drank away at the nearby bar, she would watch the dancers present. Sylvia thought they were lovely. All the men present seemed to think so too. So, she would practice at home while the man was passed out. She had hoped that someone would see her work as lovely as well, and that dancing would be her way out of the home of the man. So, once she hit puberty, she started to share her dances with the world. At first, it seemed wonderful, but within a month, a terrible day came. The day that she realized the truth about her occupation. That what she saw in the dancing was not what others saw. She wept and the man mocked her once he found out. But he wouldn't let her stop. Her dancing was a source of income, a way for him to continue drinking without working so hard. So he forced her to go on, and burned all of her more decent outfits to ensure that she would keep going. This held Sylvia back for about six months.

She began to stand outside for hours at a time when she wasn't dancing, no matter what the weather. She hoped that it would either make her to ill to dance or cause her to build a tolerance to bad whether, so that if she tried to escape, she could withstand any weather. Finally, she stopped thinking about escape, and just did. She ran to a nearby town. Quality of life wasn't much better for her there. All the townsfolk saw was a woman who was unashamed of what would make them turn crimson in shame. Sylvia didn't know better. She had grown accustomed to the outfits she wore, and thought nothing of them. It was her dancing outfit, and no one had told her that there was anything wrong with it.

No one knew this of course, thus they showed no sympathy for her. Eventually, she had to turn back to dancing to make a living. At first this was a bittersweet turn of events for her, but it turned sweet when she met him. A young man came to town, wearing a turban tangled in his messy green hair, and with a scarf around his neck. He said he was a traveling bard, and his talents certainly did seem to point to that as the truth. The first time he saw her dance, she called Sylvia and the dance beautiful. Then asked if she would like to go out to dinner with him.

This was a shocking turn of events for Sylvia. She had heard other men utter those words, but those words had never been uttered regarding her. So she accepted, he told her that his name was Lewyn before dinner, and after dinner he suggested that they should work together. They were both entertainers after all, and working together would be handy for both of them. She accepted gladly and quickly, as her heart had already latched on to the young man. So Lewyn and Sylvia worked together for the next couple of weeks. He didn't pay for all their meals, and they rarely ate together but when they did, he offered not one complaint.

Then one day, bandits attacked the village. Lewyn promised to clear them out, and proved that he could by displaying his talent for wind magic. This made Sylvia distraught. He was leaving her! She couldn't let him leave without her! Fortunately for her, acting like a jilted lover was enough to convince him to bring her along. They soon ran into an army, and Lewyn decided to join forces with them. Sylvia, of course followed suit. In an effort to make herself seem better than she was, she flirted with the commander… only to find out soon thereafter that he was married, and was expecting his first child. She was embarrassed by that and wanted to find a way to deflect that… so when one of his soldiers started flirting with HER, she responded to him in kind, and in a much more lecherous way than she would normally respond with. The day after, she was horrified with herself for her behavior… but refused to let it show. Instead, she became more clingy with Lewyn. And then a Silessian pegasus knight by the name of Ferry came along and revealed that Lewyn was their missing prince. After that, the desire to get him to marry her was solidified in her heart. Which was unfortunate for Sylvia, as Lewyn had his eyes locked on to Ferry from almost the day that she came along.

Naturally, this made Sylvia very jealous. She became quite spiteful towards Ferry, one day, she crossed a line with her words and made Ferry cry in public. That was when Sylvia realized that her attitude had caused her to deteriorate into the very kind of woman that many had assumed she was from the beginning. The realization was horrific and drove her into a panic. While she was panicking, she ran into Claude the Lord of Edda. The members of the Edda household were mostly religious leaders. Many had high positions in the church hierarchy, but none were required an oath of celibacy. It had been recognized long ago that enforcing one would be impractical and cause more problems than it caused. However, for the most part the members of House Edda did not search for romance. They used their position to help the people, and show unbiased kindness. If they found love, even when not pursing it, then it was the will of the gods.

So when Sylvia ran into Claude, and wanted to make a confession, Claude was willing to listen and not make a personal opinion on the matter. Starting a romance was the last thing on his mind. The confession, however, stuck in his mind, and later it made him ask about her personal life, and thus she told him her story. He sympathized with her, and was thereafter insistent in making sure that she was alright at all times. Over time, he started giving her gifts. What started it was Claude noticing that Sylvia was wearing her normal dancing outfit in the middle of winter while they were in Silesse. This was what wound up causing him to delve into her personal life. Soon after, he started buying her outfits. Outfits that she would be free to dance in, but were warmer and more decent for everyday wear. Sylvia accepted them gladly, and deciding that he made good company, she started to spend her spare time around him. Wanting to repay him, she began to do small things for him. She thought she was being subtle, but Claude noticed, and he appreciated it. Although he insisted that she didn't have to anything in return, she insisted that she did it because she wanted to. By then, Claude had already begun to develop feelings for her, so he did not press the issue.

Over time they became closer, and as they neared Belhalla, Claude tried to plead with her. He wanted her to get to safety, but she refused to leave without him, confessing that she wasn't about to abandon the man she loved. Claude hesitated for a moment, then said that if she was going to follow him into the arms of fate, she might as well do it as his wife. The wedding was shortly thereafter.

When things went to hell at Belhalla, Claude received a serious head injury. Serious as in, his eyes were burnt off. They survived thanks to Dew's foresight in bringing Return rings for everyone, but Claude would (obviously) never be able to see again. Sylvia stayed by his side and acted as his eyes. They stayed especially close that year.

One day, Claude sensed that Sylvia was anxious about something, and he asked her what was wrong. She said nothing, but she gently placed his hand on her belly and made him rub it. He understood immediately. "So, this father is to truly become one now." Sylvia gave birth to a girl, and they named her Leen. Sylvia had hopes that her little girl wouldn't have to live the same life that she did, but the couple knew that wish might be in vain. They hadn't been trying particularly hard to hide, and they worried that someone would take action against them.

Those fears were realized when Leen was almost two, when a priest of the Loptyr cult tried to kidnap and sacrifice baby Leen. This was an act that the cult normally wouldn't partake in (they preferred to wait until they could think for themselves before sacrificing them. An oddity in their religious code), but they did it purely to spite Claude. Fortunately baby Leen was saved, but this made them realized that they could no longer keep her around them. Leaving Leen in front of an orphanage in Darna was the most heartbreaking moment of Sylvia's life.

After that, Sylvia lived in the shadows. She still stayed with her husband, but didn't ever appear publicly. They hoped it would make their enemies think that she had disappeared or left him. Claude even hired a young church initiate to act as his eyes in order to foster the illusion. But even then, there was some persecution, and the couple were put into another tight spot when they found out that Sylvia was pregnant again. She gave birth to a son, Corple, and they put him in the orphanage like they did with Leen. A few years later, they faked their deaths. They did it to further protect their children from being hurt by their association with them. Only a handful of others knew the truth, and they used them to pull strings in their children's lives.

They managed to get Corple adopted by a kind Thracian general by the name of Hannibal. When he did this, Sylvia met him in private. She explained the truth to him and gave him the house of Edda's family heirloom, the Valkyrie staff. Once she explained the details, Hannibal promised to give it to Corple one day, and he swore that he would keep their ongoing survival a secret. Afterwards, Sylvia began to look into the welfare of Leen. She found that her daughter had become a dancer, just like herself, and recognized that her daughter was even more beautiful than she was. Sylvia recognized the problem that this would present, and she secretly hired some men to discreetly guard Leen. She was later very glad that she had done this when one day, one of the men she had hired reported that he had saved Leen from being assaulted.

She mostly let the men she hired look after Leen, but she would occasionally do it herself. One day, she came, dressed in a plain brain robe and hood to the performance space in Darna. She went into an adjacent room to get a drink, and with a start, she recognized one of the patrons as King Eldigan, sword and all! No, Eldigan was long dead, she had been there for the funeral. She then remembered that Eldigan apparently had a young son that he had sent to the Thracian peninsula. This must be him. An inquiry confirmed it.

Sylvia then got it into her head that maybe Leen shouldn't have multiple men looking after her, but just one man of significance. She was old enough. A man of the prince's calibre would surely ensure her daughter's security.

So, sidling up next to him, Sylvia began to question the prince, Ares was his name. At first, he thought she was flirting with him, so he tried to brush her off. Realizing her mistake, Sylvia showed Ares her wedding ring and explained that her intended conversation was meant to leen elsewhere. Accepting this, the two began to talk. Sylvia asked him if he intended to watch the dancers. He responded with a disgusted no. "That kind of revelry is something I refuse to indulge in. The way they look at those women is appalling. How do the girls stand it? They take off most of their clothes and prance around before men who don't give a damn if she is a good person trying to make a living or not. All they care about is her bust size. How can they stand it? Why do they demean themselves that way? I try to think positively about them, think that they have good reasons to do that, and I try to be sympathetic… but then they all flock to me and try to get my attention, and that pretty much kills any notion that I have that they are decent, but oppressed people. Now I generally think they do it just for the attention." he said

"That may be true for any number of them." said Sylvia. "But that is not necessarily true for all of them. I used to be a dancing girl myself. I did it because I liked it. I thought the dances were beautiful… at first. But then things happened, and I got stuck doing it when I didn't want to anymore. It got to the point where I was so habituated to the kind of treatment that you are talking about, I didn't really think about what was proper to wear in public. I was seen as a… you know."

"What changed things for you? You obviously got a happy ending." said Ares

"I wouldn't necessarily call it happy. Sure, my husband and I love each other, but we were forced to give up our children before they got to know us. We live in a world that doesn't allow for happy endings… but my life still is happier now than it was then. That was because of the actions of one man. He called me beautiful to my face, took an interest in my life, and was a friend to me. He helped to lead me out of the life of a street dancer. I wasn't able to secure him as my husband, but it is thanks to him that I met the man who is. Some of these girls, all it would take is one man's kindness to change their lives. Watch the girls dance tonight. Watch how they dance, watch their faces, watch their eyes. Watch for the signs of a lost soul, and make it a found soul. I can guarantee that if you watch the dancers carefully, you'll see at least one who just needs kindness. Even in troupes, you can be lonely." said Sylvia

This made Ares thoughtful. He promised to keep what Sylvia said in mind. So he watched the performance. To Sylvia's joy, after the performance, Ares made a beeline for Leen. She watched their relationship take root, and her heart was filled with hope. Hope that her daughter would find a happy life after all.


End file.
